On August 26, 2022, Chief U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissed a putative class action representing approximately 100 healthcare company employees brought against their employer, Geisinger Clinic. In the suit, the employees challenged their employer’s policy requiring employees to either be vaccinated for COVID-19 or agree to regular testing and quarantining. In dismissing the complaint, the court rejected the employees’ religious discrimination, constitutional, and state law claims, calling the employees’ evidence “a collection of distorted statements and anti-vaccine hocus-pocus.”
In August 2021, Geisinger required all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 unless they had a religious or medical exemption. Christine Lynn Finkbeiner (and other employees and former employees) requested a religious exemption, which Geisinger conditionally approved. Later, Geisinger informed Finkbeiner and others that the religious exemption did not excuse them from the testing requirement and, as a condition of employment, they needed to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or antigen COVID-19 test twice per week and quarantine for at least 14 days following exposure to someone who tests positive.
Finkbeiner requested a religious exemption to be excused from the testing and quarantine requirements. Finkbeiner filed an affidavit that claimed testing was unnecessary because she worked from...
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump encouraged supporters on Saturday and again on Monday to vote by mail if they wanted, a change of tone for the US president, who has for years described mail-in ...